KARACHI, Sept 3: The government has made extensive arrangements for handling the expected bumper cotton crop sown on larger area. The crop is passing through favourable weather conditions.

As the cotton fields of Punjab and Sindh are showing excellent plant growth with no insect pest activity, therefore, the current crop is hoped to be bumper. The Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock (MINFAL) Secretary, M. Ismail Qureshi in this regard, held a meeting with all public and private sector stakeholders at the Central Cotton Research Institute (CCRI), Multan.

The meeting was held to review the arrangements for smooth cotton marketing during 2004-05 season and safeguard the interest of stakholders, particularly of growers. He informed the participants that the government has already taken measures to handle the situation.

The Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) can intervene, if necessary, to ensure that growers do not get the price less than the support price of Rs925 per 40kg, he informed.

He further said that the TCP has already activated its procurement centres at Mirpurkhas and Nawabshah, whereas 10 centres, in Sindh and Punjab, would be activated by September 7, 2004 to benefit cotton growers.

Minfal, Secretary has said that the TCP would soon announce procurement price of lint on the basis of seed cotton support price in consultation with the ginners. Initially, he said the TCP has been allowed to lift 0.1 million of bales, whereas no upper procurement ceiling was fixed.

He stressed upon the growers and ginners to ensure qualitative improvement, by adopting necessary measures, both at field and ginneries level. They should overcome contamination problem and implement the standardisation and grading system at the grassroots level.

Qureshi advised the stakeholders to take due care of the provisions of the Cotton Control Act.